The first days of June 2003, the G8 meeting was held in Evian, France,
known for its mountain and water industry at the Geneva lake.
During this time, I was invited to participate at a workshop entitled
Summit of Interventionist Art followed by an exhibition organized
and sponsored by Forde, a municipal art gallery in Geneva that features
experimental practices and is located in a place called Usine, the French
word for factory. For more then one decade this former usine has been
functioning again as a factory, a famous hot spot for alternative culture,
events and hang outs. The Usine is located only a few blocks away from
the headquarters of the bank, jewelry and time piece industry of Switzerland
situated amidst the most exclusive shopping area of Geneva. Inspite of
this proximity, this alternative cultural factory is perceived as remote
because it was built directly at the river Rhone together with a hydric
power station, limiting its access considerably. The immediate residential
surrounding has not yet been fully gentrified. Given this particular isolated
topography and its alternative function the building is the cornerstone
of a 24 hour marketplace for drugs. With an unofficial police agreement,
drug dealing is effected outside the building and limited exclusively
to Africans dealers.
Before I arrived to Geneva I was warned of potential entry problems by
Swiss border controls. A letter was sent to me by the organizers to facilitate
my passage to Switzerland. Slightly paranoid and following the advice
of the organizers I throw away the de-facto event program. I arrived by
train from Milan. Against my expectations my train was not filled with
Italian protesters and border control was not intrusive or far beyond
the usual activities. At the Geneva train station one person was ran after
by the police, yet no hermetic control or policing tactics were visible
to me. Arriving at Forde I was surprised by a meeting organizing street
blockades that admitted also some young people Cicero Egli referred to
as Black Block. This term is a vague (self)description of groups carrying
out acts of symbolic provocations and property destructions by people
dressed in black using face covers during actions. Other people who associate,
sympathize or are referred to as Black Block partied and housed outside
the building together with a rainbow crowd of peace, love and justice
demanding people. Everybody was enjoying the summer temperatures, the
mild winds, the generosity of this place with free food and music, and
the dogs, the cameras, the five and more languages, the info flyers, the
spray cans, rucksacks, banners and preparations for the big demonstration
to come.
The police showed its presence quite clearly with in formation driving
motorcades crossing the city, with the specially armed police convoys
standing at strategic corners and with helicopters. Yet, they allowed
being photographed and filmed and didnt engage in street controls.
Opposite to the tactics of New Yorks police during the time it held
an economic meeting last winter that attracted tens of thousands of protesters,
individual regular police men were not posed across the city. The regular
police force was suspiciously absent. The specially attractive shopping
area with lots of shop windows that werent protected by wood suddenly
werent protected at all once the special police troops moved away
at night time. The party of non-legitimate, non-representational activities
took off and small groups took of running down the main street smashing
windows, destroying public phones and creating some chaos. Some of them
also left from the Usine.
During this glass breaking excursion police troops were absent. Without
showing signs of stress they only returned after the damage was done and
confrontations were not on the horizon. By then many passangers and onlookers
mixed in the street to observe, photograph and film the events. In fact
the mood was similar to some fete de la music or carneval
event. Well dressed ordinary non-protesting citizens and tourists were
allowed to photograph and film the impressive strong-men of the special
police unites. Common photo sessions were shared with the photographed
troopers. They smiled for the camera and appreciated the digital images
handed over to them again. The first clean up started, carpenters arrived
and the H&Ms and other shops were secured. In front of the police
and under the appreciation of the general night public graffitists were
busy inscribing themselves onto the new temporary corporate material,
plywood. I will return to these facts below and continue.
I myself too was walking around taking pictures and filming like everybody
else. The city suddenly turned photogenic for everybody else. The police
was filming, tourists were filming, Geneva residents were filming, protesters
were filming and the press was filming and photographing. Rarely anybody
that didnt film and photograph. At one point, this practice almost
put me in jeal. By accident I came about a building that just was set
on fire with huge flames coming out of the garage. I filmed it and took
pictures as well. It looked as if we were some of the first people on
the scene, arriving before the police or the fire brigade. Thirty minutes
later, I also filmed some small group of people in ordinary dress that
looked very nervous and agitated. I suspected them to be part of the window
and Molotov cocktail throwing hooligans. They went to a car parked near
by when I started filming them. One guy perceived me and suddenly run
over to me. He asked me why I was filming him and I gave some touristic
answer. He then introduced himself as undercover police officer and made
me erase the part I filmed. By doing so he discovered the fire I filmed
previously. Seeing this part of my video, he and his collects changed
their moods again: lets arrest him, this material incriminates him,
the fact that he is at the site of the event is enough evidence to arrest
him. Two wanted to take me with them, one opted for the tourist version.
My swiss friends with me started to convince them that we all got there
by accident. They took my passport and returned with it about 20 minutes
later. Then they even apologized. Given other reports on the police I
was surprised that they didnt take my tape with them, that they
didnt take me with them and that they apologized. I kept walking
around and hanging out at the studio of the INDYMEDIA.ORG people who were
streaming and reporting on the events.